File folders, hanging file folders and other paper storage systems are of great utility in an office setting. The most common storage system, the common manila folder, for example are widespread and relatively inexpensive, and have convenient tabs suitable for writing. Such folders may be available in hanging or non-hanging versions. There are many other types as well, but of particular interest is their ability to display indicia on a tab by marking/applying data to a region of the folder which is visible when the folder is closed (i.e. the leaves are generally parallel with documents therebetween).
In addition, typically tabbing systems are on the top or side of the file folder. The amount of data which can be displayed is a function of the label size, but there are practical limitations on label size. There are many reasons for wanting to have the maximum writing space available on a file. Obviously the more that is written, the more the user will know about the contents. There are other reasons. Space may be needed for bar coding or color coding. Bar coding usually requires at least 3-5 mm of height for a successful scan. That leaves perhaps 15-20 mm left for human readable indicia. If bar and color coding are used, there may be little or no space left for words and numbers.
On the other hand, it is not practical to increase the overall height of the file folder because the file drawers and other containers built for folders is already standardized and making the tabs taller will simply not be acceptable to users who require backward compatibility to existing systems.
In the prior art, Jonas U.S. Pat. No. 2,037,579, proposes a solution which exposes more of the tab surface by cutting a notch into the front panel, but that solution still leaves the user with a very limited amount of visible area when folders are stacked against each other, such as in a file cabinet, because the notched portion (34 in Jonas) is occluded when in a file drawer.
The Jonas reference goes back to 1936, which illustrates that much time has passed without a substantial improvement despite the long felt need for improvement. The problem has been that there seemed no way to increase the label size without exceeding the space limits of standard file cabinets.
So a solution needs to be found to provide a simple way to make tabs larger without exceeding existing norms for folder file cabinets or the like. There are other issues relevant to the solution of the present invention and they are detailed below.